anthem

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For more information on anthem, visit Britannica.com.

A choral setting of a religious or moral text in English, usually for liturgical performance. The term is derived from Antiphon. In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer the anthem was formally acknowledged as an extra at the end of Matins and Evensong in the Church of England. Early anthems, from c1550 (by Tye, Tallis and others), are in four parts, predominantly imitative in note-against-note counterpoint. A significant development c1600 was the ‘verse’ style, in which verses for solo voices with instrumental accompaniment (normally organ) alternated with choral passages. This paralleled the Concertato development abroad. Byrd's Easter anthem, Christ rising again, illustrates it at its best. Distinguished among his younger contemporaries were Morley (who considered it his task ‘to draw the hearers... to the consideration of holy things’) and later Tomkins, Weelkes and Gibbons, who gave the anthem even greater dramatic impact.

After the Restoration (1661) a new style developed, with Cooke and Locke, in anthems for the Chapel Royal, showing homophonic textures and a succession of contrasting verses with occasional, often perfunctory choruses; French and Italian influence is evident. Strings were sometimes added for ritornellos. Locke, Humfrey and Blow used this new style; Purcell synthesized and developed these features, contributing to the verse anthem, the full anthem, and the newer orchestral type.

In the 18th century, anthems were written by Handel (including 11 for the Duke of Chandos, 1716-18, and some ten others), Greene, Boyce and others. In the period 1770-1817 adaptations and arrangements were used although Battishill and Samuel Wesley wrote effective anthems. The foundations of the Victorian revival were laid mainly by S.S. Wesley, many of whose best anthems were published in 1853. In the late 19th century, Stanford was particularly influential in church music: his anthems, reflecting an interest in new music abroad, are unmistakably English in style and structure. Vaughan Williams, Bax, Walton and Britten wrote isolated anthem-like compositions but few are practicable for daily cathedral use.

The American anthem of the late 18th century was modelled on English anthems from such collections as Tans′ur's Royal Melody Complete (1735) and Williams's Universal Psalmodist (1763). The centre of anthem composition during the 18th century was New England, where works by native composers, including the pioneer Billings, quickly outnumbered the available English models. Outside the mainstream were the Germanic immigrants, notably the Moravians who settled in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Dudley Buck in the late 19th century and William Sowerby in the 20th have been among the most influential American anthem composers.

anthem, originally an antiphon; Wilfred Owen's ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and W. H. Auden's ‘Anthem for St Cecilia's Day’ both preserve something of this antiphonal sense. The term is now used more often to denote a song in which the words affirm a collective identity, usually expressing attachment to some nation, institution, or cause. Anthems have been adopted, formally or informally, by states, schools, sports clubs, and social movements of all kinds. A significant modern example is Tom Robinson's ‘Glad to be Gay’ (1977).

A choral or vocal composition, often with a religious or political lyric, with or without accompaniment, written either for performance in a church, or another place with significance to the song itself.

• Opera and Vocal Music - anthem: sacred vocal composition with words from the Scriptures; song of praise
• Styles and Genres - anthem: highly emotional and dramatic song, often patriotic or devotional

For other uses, see Anthem (disambiguation).

The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music (in music theory and religious contexts), or more generally, a song (or composition) of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Anthems and the church 3 Music theory 4 Modern use 5 See also 6 References

Etymology

The word is derived from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antiphōna) via Old English antefn, a word which originally had the same meaning as antiphon.

Anthems and the church

An anthem is a form of church music, particularly in the service of the Church of England, in which it is appointed by the rubrics to follow the third collect at both morning and evening prayer. Several anthems are included in the British coronation service. The words are selected from Holy Scripture or in some cases from the Liturgy, and the music is generally more elaborate and varied than that of psalm or hymn tunes. Though the anthem of the Church of England is analogous to the motet of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches, both being written for a trained choir and not for the congregation, it is as a musical form essentially English in its origin and development.

The anthem developed as a replacement for the Catholic "votive antiphon" commonly sung as an appendix to the main office to the Blessed Virgin Mary or other saints. Although anthems were written in the Elizabethan period by Tallis (1505–1585), Byrd (1539–1623), and others, they are not mentioned in the Book of Common Prayer until 1662, when the famous rubric "In quires and places where they sing here followeth the Anthem" first appears.

In common usage among many Protestant churches, an "anthem" often refers to any short sacred choral work presented during the course of a worship service. In the context of an Anglican service, an "anthem" is a composition to an English religious text. From this widening usage has come the more modern sense of the word.

Music theory

Early anthems tended to be simple and homophonic in texture, so that the words could be clearly heard. Late in the sixteenth century the "verse anthem", in which passages for solo voices alternated with passages for full choir, developed. This became the dominant form in the Restoration, when composers such as Henry Purcell (1659–1695) and John Blow (1649–1708) wrote elaborate examples for the Chapel Royal with orchestral accompaniment. In the nineteenth century Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876) wrote anthems influenced by contemporary oratorio which stretch to several movements and last twenty minutes or longer. Later in the century, Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924) used symphonic techniques to produce a more concise and unified structure.

Many anthems have been composed since this time, generally by organists rather than professional composers and often in a conservative style. Major composers have usually composed anthems in response to commissions and for special occasions. Examples include Edward Elgar's Great is the Lord (1912) and Give unto the Lord (1914) (both with orchestral accompaniment), Benjamin Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb (1943) (a modern example of a multi-movement anthem and today heard mainly as a concert piece), and, on a much smaller scale, Ralph Vaughan Williams' O taste and see (1952) (written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II). With the relaxation of the rule, in England at least, that anthems should be only in English, the repertoire has been greatly enhanced by the addition of many works from the Latin repertoire.

Modern use

The word "anthem" is commonly used to describe a celebratory song or composition for a distinct group, as in the term "national anthem". Many pop songs are used as anthems, such as Queen's "We Are the Champions", which is commonly used as a sports anthem. The term "anthemic" is a modern word coined to describe music with a celebratory connotation. Since the target audience of pop music can vary greatly, so can the celebrated subject of the anthem. Examples of this wider range of anthem subjects include Marilyn Manson's Irresponsible Hate Anthem and Silverchair's Anthem for the Year 2000.

See also

The following is a list of articles on anthems:

• National anthem
• List of national anthems
• Stadium anthem

Notable anthems:

• La Espero (anthem of the language Esperanto)
• God Save the Queen (National anthem of the United Kingdom and New Zealand)
• Hail to the Chief (American Presidential anthem)
• The Internationale (Socialist anthem)
• La Marseillaise (Republic anthem)

References

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Anthem.

• Peter Le Huray "Anthem" in Stanley Sadie, ed. The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians (London: Macmillan, 1980) ISBN 0-333-23111-2
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - hymne, nationalsang

Nederlands (Dutch)
lofzang, beurtzang, uitgebreid koorlied,

Français (French)
n. - hymne, motet
v. tr. - chanter un hymne

Deutsch (German)
n. - Hymne
v. - in einer Hymne besingen, Hymnen singen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ύμνος, (θρησκ.) αντίφωνο, τροπάριο
v. - υμνώ

Italiano (Italian)
inno

Português (Portuguese)
n. - canção (f) religiosa ou patriótica, antífona (Mús.)

idioms:

• national anthem    hino (m) nacional

Русский (Russian)
гимн

idioms:

• national anthem    национальный гимн

Español (Spanish)
n. - himno, antífona
v. tr. - celebrar con un himno

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hymn
v. - sjunga hymn eller nationalsång

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
圣歌, 赞美诗

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 聖歌, 讚美詩

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 축가, 성가

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 聖歌, 賛歌

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نشيد, ترنيمه (فعل) ينشد, يرنم‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮המנון‬

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